From 2011-2014, Daniel Honan was the Managing Editor at Big Think. Prior to Big Think, Daniel was Vice President of Production for Plum TV, a niche cable network he helped launch in 2002. The production team he oversaw won over two dozen Emmy awards. Daniel has created numerous shows and documentaries for television, and his film credits include Stealing the Fire, a documentary on the black market for nuclear weapons technology.

In a previous post, NYU Stern School of Business Professor Scott Galloway described how an email exchange he had with a student went viral. Among other things, the emails touched on a timely and controversial subject: "We have two very credible, emotional arguments that came kind of full force together in a forum of an authentic email," Galloway told Big Think.

The subject in question was, according to Galloway, "how expectant GEN Y has become, and how incredibly expensive education has become, and the fact that a lot of people think that we in education are sitting in ivory towers and not delivering the value we should."

It is not surprising, then, when we asked Galloway what he thinks the biggest threat to innovation in the United States is, he answered this way:

"A threat I see firsthand every day," said Galloway, is "the escalating costs of education in our country." Galloway points out the cost of education has increased at twice the rate of inflation, which is a faster increase than healthcare and energy costs. In fact, the average annual cost of a private four-year college is nearly $37,000.

As a result, there is now more student loan debt in America than credit card debt (it is estimated to be $903.6 billion). According to Galloway, "it’s getting to a point where no graduate of a four-year college or graduate degree program can go out on their own and start their business because they have this incredible weight, this Albatross around their neck called student loan debt."

What's the Significance?

According to Galloway, "the key to innovation in the most powerful economy in the world" is letting young people "have the freedom to start their own businesses."

In other words, when young people assume an enormous amount of debt, it greatly reduces their ability to assume the risks associated with starting a new business. According to Galloway, this means an entire generation of entrepreneurs are essentially being silenced: "Until we figure out a way to give them access to education at the rates I paid when I was in school," Galloway says, "we are putting at risk the core competence of the greatest economic engine in the world."